Hello! I’m honored to be here on Head to Toe Wellness, and before I go on with my post I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Karla Vasconcellos, and I am a food scientist & graduate nutrition student trying to balance my time between a full-time career, part-time studies, playing on a competitive sports team, and being a mom to my fur child, a lovely little (ok…big!) shelter pup named Riley. I met the wonderful Jenna Stock while waitressing in college, and have been fortunate enough to stay in touch with her over the years. One of my career aspirations is to become a Registered Dietitian like Jenna, helping to educate people about nutritious foods that not only taste great but fuel your body! I am so thankful to be joining the Head to Toe team and am grateful for what this experience will bring.
As a nutrition student with a busy schedule, I hope to bring you some recipe ideas & advice that may help you find ways to fit healthy eating into your busy lifestyle. As an athlete with a passion for fitness, I’d like to share some of my favorite exercises & ways to stay fit. And while I may not have (human) children of my own, as a Kids Eat Right Campaign volunteer, I plan to help spread the word of healthy & active lifestyles for kids to those of you that do have children. I find the rise in childhood obesity in our country a disturbing yet interesting problem, and I would love to share what I am learning through my graduate program, the Kids Eat Right Campaign, and personal search for wellness tips to help nip the problem in the bud, doing my part to prevent it from becoming an even bigger issue.
So, let’s talk food, fun & fitness! Warm weather has sprung and summer is just around the corner. Summer months bring vacation from school for the kids, lots of swimming & beach trips, and more often than not jam, packed schedules to enjoy all those extra hours of sunlight we have each day. Sometimes, summertime can be just as stressful as it is enjoyable. Quick & easy meals that satisfy both kids and adults can be a big help to ease some of that stress. This week, eatright.org posted a recipe for homemade chicken nuggets and I thought it would be great to share! If kids enjoy it, it is a super simple meal to make again and again. And let’s face it…I may not be a kid, but I do LOVE some chicken nuggets – I can’t be the only one! The recipe is from Dawn Blatner, RD LDN, and if you check out the website, you can also find a recipe for a honey mustard sauce to accompany the chicken.
Pretzel Crusted Chicken
http://sm.eatright.org/pretzelchicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4 oz. each)
1 cup crushed pretzels
Cooking spray
1. Preheat oven to 350oF.
2. Press chicken into pretzel crumbs and spray with cooking spray.
3. Bake chicken on a sheet pan for about 40 minutes or until internal chicken temperature is 165oF.
You could cut the chicken into smaller pieces to be more like bite sized nuggets, or keep it in larger breast cutlets for a more adult flare. In the past I’ve coated chicken with crushed potato chips or Corn Flakes cereal, so this recipe caught my eye. It also helps that I work for a pretzel company – always looking for ways to incorporate our products into great, healthy recipes! J
The lean protein in chicken would be great to pair with some veggies. String beans steamed or lightly sautéed with a bit of black pepper & olive oil could add to the meal. Kids may also like applesauce as a classic pairing with chicken nuggets, and here is a simple recipe from Martha Stewart to make your own. Just grab some apples & lemons; also brown sugar, or substitute honey, optional for a little extra sweetness.
http://www.marthastewart.com/872914/classic-applesauce
Homemade can mean less added sugars, and be a more cost effective option. The original recipe suggests enjoying the apple sauce within 5 days, or freezing for up to 2 months - the perfect idea for a quick after school or work snack too!
While the kids are still in school, they may very likely be buying lunch from the cafeteria. The article of the week from Kids Eat Right discusses how many schools are beginning to offer vegetarian options. Does your child's school (or your office or work cafeteria if you have one!) offer vegetarian meal options? Is there as much variety as you'd like to see?
Check out the full article here! http://sm.eatright.org/localvegschool
Last but certainly not least, fitness! These warm weather months call for it, whether just from allowing more time for us to enjoy it outside or prepping for bathing suit season. I try to be sure to get about 20 minutes of activity each day at minimum – even if some days it is just taking my dog Riley for a long walk. It’s healthy for the both of us; don’t forget your doggies need exercise too! As I mentioned, I am on a competitive sports team….have you ever heard of roller derby? If you haven’t, I highly suggest you check out Drew Barrymore’s movie Whip It. While it doesn’t provide the most accurate version of what derby is like today, it gives a really great general idea, and it’s such a good movie! Roller derby helps me stay in shape, with a minimum of two practices each week at 2 hours each, full of cardio & strength training incorporated into our gameplay. However, I do need to exercise outside of practice, for both my own health & conditioning to stay fit for the game. One of my favorite things to do to exercise are workout videos – they are much cheaper than a gym membership, you can do them in the comfort of your own home, and they provide the motivation of a fitness class even without having to step foot in an actual gym (or pay for one!). So, I thought I would do a short review of a workout video for each post, providing some feedback in case you are interested to try it on your own.
This week: Personal Training with Jackie – Power Circuit Training
This DVD is one of my favorites, and I’ve had it for years. Jackie Warner is a celebrity trainer with many DVDs on the market. This particular one has several different workouts – 4 15-minute workouts (full body, upper body, lower body, abs), and one 40-minute workout (which combines the upper body, lower body & abs). What I love about it is that if you only have 15 minutes to spare, you can get a good strength training workout in that still gets you feeling it in your muscles the next day (especially those dead lifts!). You need minimal equipment with just a few hand weights, and you can increase the weight as you feel ready. I also like the system that this workout uses – for each body area you are targeting, you will do 3 different exercises for 1 minute each, then do all 3 in a sort of power-mode for 1 minute. It keeps you moving even in the shorter workouts, so you can fit it in on a busy schedule. I highly recommend it!
Now, time to go crush some pretzels – I can’t wait to try out that recipe!
Karla
As a nutrition student with a busy schedule, I hope to bring you some recipe ideas & advice that may help you find ways to fit healthy eating into your busy lifestyle. As an athlete with a passion for fitness, I’d like to share some of my favorite exercises & ways to stay fit. And while I may not have (human) children of my own, as a Kids Eat Right Campaign volunteer, I plan to help spread the word of healthy & active lifestyles for kids to those of you that do have children. I find the rise in childhood obesity in our country a disturbing yet interesting problem, and I would love to share what I am learning through my graduate program, the Kids Eat Right Campaign, and personal search for wellness tips to help nip the problem in the bud, doing my part to prevent it from becoming an even bigger issue.
So, let’s talk food, fun & fitness! Warm weather has sprung and summer is just around the corner. Summer months bring vacation from school for the kids, lots of swimming & beach trips, and more often than not jam, packed schedules to enjoy all those extra hours of sunlight we have each day. Sometimes, summertime can be just as stressful as it is enjoyable. Quick & easy meals that satisfy both kids and adults can be a big help to ease some of that stress. This week, eatright.org posted a recipe for homemade chicken nuggets and I thought it would be great to share! If kids enjoy it, it is a super simple meal to make again and again. And let’s face it…I may not be a kid, but I do LOVE some chicken nuggets – I can’t be the only one! The recipe is from Dawn Blatner, RD LDN, and if you check out the website, you can also find a recipe for a honey mustard sauce to accompany the chicken.
Pretzel Crusted Chicken
http://sm.eatright.org/pretzelchicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4 oz. each)
1 cup crushed pretzels
Cooking spray
1. Preheat oven to 350oF.
2. Press chicken into pretzel crumbs and spray with cooking spray.
3. Bake chicken on a sheet pan for about 40 minutes or until internal chicken temperature is 165oF.
You could cut the chicken into smaller pieces to be more like bite sized nuggets, or keep it in larger breast cutlets for a more adult flare. In the past I’ve coated chicken with crushed potato chips or Corn Flakes cereal, so this recipe caught my eye. It also helps that I work for a pretzel company – always looking for ways to incorporate our products into great, healthy recipes! J
The lean protein in chicken would be great to pair with some veggies. String beans steamed or lightly sautéed with a bit of black pepper & olive oil could add to the meal. Kids may also like applesauce as a classic pairing with chicken nuggets, and here is a simple recipe from Martha Stewart to make your own. Just grab some apples & lemons; also brown sugar, or substitute honey, optional for a little extra sweetness.
http://www.marthastewart.com/872914/classic-applesauce
Homemade can mean less added sugars, and be a more cost effective option. The original recipe suggests enjoying the apple sauce within 5 days, or freezing for up to 2 months - the perfect idea for a quick after school or work snack too!
While the kids are still in school, they may very likely be buying lunch from the cafeteria. The article of the week from Kids Eat Right discusses how many schools are beginning to offer vegetarian options. Does your child's school (or your office or work cafeteria if you have one!) offer vegetarian meal options? Is there as much variety as you'd like to see?
Check out the full article here! http://sm.eatright.org/localvegschool
Last but certainly not least, fitness! These warm weather months call for it, whether just from allowing more time for us to enjoy it outside or prepping for bathing suit season. I try to be sure to get about 20 minutes of activity each day at minimum – even if some days it is just taking my dog Riley for a long walk. It’s healthy for the both of us; don’t forget your doggies need exercise too! As I mentioned, I am on a competitive sports team….have you ever heard of roller derby? If you haven’t, I highly suggest you check out Drew Barrymore’s movie Whip It. While it doesn’t provide the most accurate version of what derby is like today, it gives a really great general idea, and it’s such a good movie! Roller derby helps me stay in shape, with a minimum of two practices each week at 2 hours each, full of cardio & strength training incorporated into our gameplay. However, I do need to exercise outside of practice, for both my own health & conditioning to stay fit for the game. One of my favorite things to do to exercise are workout videos – they are much cheaper than a gym membership, you can do them in the comfort of your own home, and they provide the motivation of a fitness class even without having to step foot in an actual gym (or pay for one!). So, I thought I would do a short review of a workout video for each post, providing some feedback in case you are interested to try it on your own.
This week: Personal Training with Jackie – Power Circuit Training
This DVD is one of my favorites, and I’ve had it for years. Jackie Warner is a celebrity trainer with many DVDs on the market. This particular one has several different workouts – 4 15-minute workouts (full body, upper body, lower body, abs), and one 40-minute workout (which combines the upper body, lower body & abs). What I love about it is that if you only have 15 minutes to spare, you can get a good strength training workout in that still gets you feeling it in your muscles the next day (especially those dead lifts!). You need minimal equipment with just a few hand weights, and you can increase the weight as you feel ready. I also like the system that this workout uses – for each body area you are targeting, you will do 3 different exercises for 1 minute each, then do all 3 in a sort of power-mode for 1 minute. It keeps you moving even in the shorter workouts, so you can fit it in on a busy schedule. I highly recommend it!
Now, time to go crush some pretzels – I can’t wait to try out that recipe!
Karla